Amp’d Mobile, announced it will deliver much of its mobile entertainment content to Japan via a new portal service designed exclusively for Tokyo-based KDDI/au. The service is expected to launch in March of 2007. Services will include Amp’d Music, Videos, Games, Sports, and Lifestyle content. The company has stated it will also open a satellite studio office in Japan that will contribute locally-produced materials to enhance their service.
The much-awaited portable-number service for cell phones has started in Japan, enabling users to change carriers without having to change phone numbers. This is a new convenience for customers, but for the cell-phone carriers – NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp. – it heralds the start of a new war. The ease with which users can change carriers is expected to cause fierce competition. It is hoped that the competition will lead to lower fees, better services and more user options.
Openwave today announced that their Mercury Edition Mobile Browser has been chosen to power KDDI’s EZWeb services. The browser will be the third generation of Openwave software on KDDI handsets and further strengthens the commitment from KDDI and Openwave to deliver the most compelling mobile services available in the Japan market today.
Softbank announced it will offer new price plans – lower than DoCoMo and KDDI by at least 200 yen – on the eve of Japan’s Mobile Number Portability launch. Softbank introduced 18 new subscription plans including three packages which allow subscribers to call and message for free at certain times of the day. A recent survey by the Nikkei reported that up to 25 percent of SoftBank customers may switch carriers under the new MNP rule while 19 percent of DoCoMo’s and only 8 percent of KDDI’s users said they may change carriers after number portability.
KDDI has announced their second-quarter profits rose 24 percent with net income climbimg to 60 billion yen ($507 million) for the six months ended Sept. 30. The companies AU brand noted a slight increase in data ARPU (average revenue per user) to 2,000 yen for the second quarter from 1,890 yen a year earlier while voice fell to 4,700 yen from 5,300 yen the period a year ago. Total sales increased 6.9 percent to 806 billion yen.
This past week, WWJ’s own Lawrence Cosh-Ishii, our hard-working director of digital media (and pretty much everything else in our humble shop), appeared on US Web radio program "Into Tomorrow," hosted by Dave Graveline. Dave and his crew pop over to Tokyo each year for the annual CEATEC consumer tech show, and he makes it his business to hook up with a slate of guests who can provide insidery gen on what’s happening in Japan…
